WOULD you have believed it? Not withstanding all that had happened between Titmouse and Tag-rag, they positively got reconciled to one another-a triumphant result of the astute policy of Mr Gammon. As soon as

he had heard Titmouse's infuriated account of his ignominious expulsion from Satin Lodge, he burst into a fit of hearty but gentle laughter, which at length subsided into an inward chuckle that lasted the rest of the day; and which was occasioned, first, by gratification at the impression which his own sagacity had evidently produced upon the powerful mind of Titmouse; secondly, by an exquisite appreciation of the mingled meanness and stupidity of Tag rag. I don't mean it to be understood, that Titmouse had given Mr Gammon such a terse and clear account of the matter as I imagine myself to have given to my reader; but still he told quite enough to put Mr Gammon in full possession of the true state of the case. Good: but then-instantly reflected Gammon-what are we now to do with Titmouse?-where was that troublesome little ape to be caged, till it suited the purposes of his proprietors (as Messrs Quirk, Gammon, and Snap might surely be called, for they had caught him, as, however,

Z.

they might fail to tame him) to let him loose upon society, to amuse and astonish it by his antics ?—That

was

the question occupying the thoughts of Mr Gammon while his calm, clear, grey eye was fixed upon Titmouse, apparently very attentive to what he was saying. Tittlebat had first told the story of his wrongs to Snap, who instantly, rubbing his hands, suggested an indictment at the Clerkenwell sessions-an idea which infinitely delighted Titmouse, but was somewhat sternly "pooh-pooh-poohed!" by Mr Gammon as soon as he heard of it,-Snap thereat shrugging his shoulders with a disconcerted air, but a bitter sneer upon his sharp, hard face. Like many men of little but active minds, early drilled to particular callings, Snap was equal to the mechanical conduct of business-the mere working of the machinery-but, as the phrase is, could never see an inch beyond his nose. Every petty conjuncture of circumstances that admitted of litigation, at once suggested its expediency, without reference to other considerations, or connexion with, or subordination to, any general purpose or plan of action. A creature of small impulses, he had no idea of foregoing a momentary advantage to secure an ulterior object

To speak after the manner of physiologists, several of my characters Titmouse, Tag-rag, (with his amiable wife and daughter,) Huckaback, Snap, and old Quirk himself-may be looked on as reptiles of a low order in the scale of being, whose simple structures almost one dash of the knife would suffice to lay thoroughly open. Gammon, however, I look upon as of a much higher order; possessing a far more complicated structure, adapted to the discharge of superior functions; and who, consequently, requir eth a more careful dissection. But let it not be supposed that I have yet done with any of my characters.

Gammon saw that Tag-rag, under proper management, might be made very useful. He was a moneyed man ; a selfish man; and, after his sort, an ambitious man. He had an only child, a daughter, and if Titmouse and he could only be by any means once more brought together, and a firm friendship cemented between them, Gammon saw several very profitable uses to which such an intimacy might be turned, in the happening of any of several contingencies which he contemplated as possible. In the event, for instance, of larger outlays of money being required than suited the convenience of the firm-could not Tag-rag be easily brought to accommodate his future son-in-law of £10,000 a-year? Suppose, for instance, that after all, their case should break down, and all their pains, exertions, and expenditure be utterly thrown away. Now, if Tag-rag could be quietly brought, some fine day, to the point of either making some actual advance, or entering into security for Titmouse, -ah! that would do that would do, said both Quirk and Gammon. But then Titmouse was a very unsafe instrument an incalculable fool, and might commit himself too far.”

"You forget, Gammon, said Quirk, "I don't fear this girl of Tagrag's-because only let Titmouse see -hem," he suddenly paused and looked a little confused.

"To be sure-I see," replied Gammon quietly, and the thing passed off. "If either Miss Quirk or Miss Tag

rag becomes Mrs Titmouse," thought Gammon, "I am not the man I take myself for."

A few days after Titmouse's expulsion from Satin Lodge, without his having ever gone near Tag-rag's premises in Oxford Street, or, in short, seen or heard any thing about him, or any one connected with him, he removed to small but very respectable lodgings in the neighbourhood of Hatton Garden, provided for him by Mr Quirk. Mrs Squallop was quite affected while she took leave of Titmouse, who gave her son sixpence to take his two boxes down stairs to the coach drawn up opposite to the entrance of Closet Court.

"I've always felt like a mother towards you, sir, in my humble way, said Mrs Squallop in a very respectful manner, and curtsying profoundly.

"A-I've not got any small silver by me, my good woman," said Titmouse, with a fine air, as he drew on his white kid glove.

"Lord, Mr Titmouse!" said the woman, almost bursting into tears, "I wasn't asking for money, neither for me nor mine-only one can't help, as it were, feeling at parting with an old lodger."

"Ah-ya-as-and all that! Well, my good woman, good day, goodday."

"Good-by, sir-God bless you; and you're going to be a rich manexcuse me, sir."-And she seized his hand and shook it.

"You're a-devilish-impudentwoman-'pon my soul!" exclaimed Titmouse, his features filled with amazement at the presumption of which she had been guilty; and he' strode down the stairs with an air of offended dignity.

"Well I never!-That for you, you little brute," said Mrs Squallop, snapping her fingers as soon as she had heard his last step on the stairs-" Kind or cruel, it's all one to you; you're a nasty jackanapes, only fit to stand in a tailor's window to show his clothes-and I'll be sworn you'll come to no good in the end! Let you be rich as you may, you'll always be the fool you always were!"

Had the good woman been familiar with the Night Thoughts of Young, she might have expressed herself somewhat tersely in a line of his— "Pigmies are pigmies still, though perch'd on Alps,"

don't," continued Gammon, with much energy and feeling-"You never again darken his doors; for I hope I know what is due to the injured honour of a gentleman who has put himself into my hands."

"Ah! I should think so!" echoed Titmouse, shaking his head with a very injured and indignant air, and running his fingers through his hair"But what will you say to him about my humbugging him in the way I did?-Eh?"

"Oh, I'll pass that off, you'll see! -I shall tell him 'twas all a trick of yours to try the love of Miss Tagrag.

"Oh! capital!-capital! 'Pon my soul and life, capital!" cried Titmouse, with great glee-" Excuse me, Mr Gammon, but you've got a headpiece of your own!-So, I suppose I shall have to go to his house his lodge, as he calls it?-Eugh! how I hate the sight of it, to be sure!"

"What does it signify, my dear sir, for your purposes?'

"And I shall have to shake hands with the beast. 'Pon my life, I'd as lief touch a toad!"

"But when you reflect all the while how you're doing him, my dear sir— doing him so gloriously"

"There's something in that, to be sure. But, Gad! I shall feel fit to spit in his face when I see him. He collared me! Cuss him! he tore my best coat all down the back-said I was a cussed scamp. My eyes! Is that to be borne by a gentleman ? Only consider, Mr Gammon !-To be

sure"

edly, and running his fingers through his hair.

"Pho! pho! my dear sir!" said Gammon, leaning back and laughing.

"Ha, but it's so, Mr Gammon ; 'pon my soul, a bite at first sight; such things do happen-Eh? Never read of them?"

"Ah, ha, ha!-Really this tickles me more than all! Miss Tag-rag in love with Mr Tittlebat Titmouse! Your goodness of heart, Mr Titmouse -your delicate and sensitive nature leads you astray."

No,

66 Why, was it a take-in? cuss it! I should have found it out. No, by George! she loved me at first sight, and no mistake, and couldn't eat any dinner!"

"She was trifling with you, Mr Titmouse," said Gammon, gravely; "and you must take a proper revenge, by trifling with her."

"Ah, to be sure! tit for tat all the world over. So! 'twas a take-in? How I hate her! An impudent baggage! Lord, when I keep my carriage, won't I make a point of driving slowly past Satin Lodge; for, in course, I shall drop 'em all when that comes to pass?"

"I should think so! But believe me, my dear sir," said Gammon, rising and preparing to go, "there's a vast deal to be done before that comes to pass!

To-morrow I shall call on Tag-rag, and arrange your reconciliation; and then, probably, he will call on you-if not, you will call on him-and I leave him in your hands! Good-night, my dear Titmouse-goodnight!"

"Good-night!" replied Titmouse, and in a moment or two was left

alone, nursing his rage against Tagrag and his family-particularly-indignant towards Miss Tag-rag-and trying hard, every now and then, to remember what was to be the advantage resulting from the reconciliation on which Gammon had insisted so urgently; but having tried in vain, at length he gave up the task in despair, fearing that, however perfect were all his other mental faculties, his memory was not so strong as he could wish. If the reader can recollect it, he will have an extraordinary memory.

The next day Mr Gammon wended his way towards Oxford Street, and soon introduced himself once more to

Mr Tag-rag, who was standing lean

ing against one of the counters in his shop in a musing position, with a pen behind his ear, and his hands in his breeches pockets. Ten days had elapsed since he had expelled the little impostor Titmouse from Satin Lodge, and during that interval he had neither seen nor heard any thing whatever of him. On now catching the first glimpse of Mr Gammon, he started from his musing posture, not a little disconcerted, and agitation overspread his coarse deeply-pitted face with a tallowy hue. What was in the wind? Mr Gammon coming to him, so long after what had occurred? Mr Gammon who, having found out his error, had discarded Titmouse? Tag-rag had a mortal dread of Gammon, who seemed to him to glide like a dangerous snake into the shop, so quietly, and so deadly! There was something so calm and imperturbable in his demeanour, so blandly crafty, so ominously gentle and soft in the tone of his voice, so penetrating in his eye, and he could throw such an infernal smile over his features. Tag-rag might be likened to the ox, suddenly shuddering as he perceives the glistening folds of the rattlesnake noiselessly moving towards, or around him, in the long grass. One glimpse of his blasting beauty of hue.-Horror! all is over.

If the splendid bubble of Titmouse's fortune had burst in the manner which he had represented, why Gammon here now? It was with, in truth, a very poor show of contempt and defiance that, in answer to the bland salutation of Gammon, Mr Tag-rag led the way down the shop into the little room which had been the scene of such an extraordinary communication concerning Titmouse on a former occasion.

Gammon commenced, in a mild tone, with a very startling represen tation of the criminal liability which Tag-rag had incurred by his wanton outrage upon Mr Titmouse, his own guest, in violation of all the laws of hospitality. Tag-rag furiously alleged the imposition which had been practised on him by Titmouse; but seemed quite collapsed when Gammon assured him that that circumstance would not afford him the slightest justification. Having satisfied Tagrag that he was entirely at the mercy of Titmouse, who might subject him

to both fine and imprisonment, Mr

his eyes

Gammon proceeded to open to their widest stare of amazement by assuring him that Titmouse had been hoaxing him, and that he was really in the dazzling position in which he had been first represented by Gammon to Tag-rag; that every week brought him nearer to the full and uncontrolled enjoyment of an estate in Yorkshire, worth £10,000 a-year at the very lowest; that it was becoming an object of great anxiety to them (Messrs Quirk, Gammon, and Snap) to keep him out of the hands of money-lenders, who, as usual in such cases, had already scented out their victim, and so forth.-Tag-rag turned very white, and felt sick at heart in the midst of all his wonder. Oh, and his daughter had lost the golden prize! and through his misconduct! He could have sunk into the cellar!-That he (Gammon) could not account for the singular conduct of Mr Titmouse on the melancholy occasion in question, except by referring it to the excellent wines which he had too freely partaken of at Satin Lodge, added (said Gammon, with an inimitable expression of features that perfectly fascinated Tag-rag) to a "certain tenderer influence" which had fairly laid prostrate the faculties of the young and enthusiastic Titmouse; that there could be no doubt of his real motive in the conduct alluded to, namely, a desire to test the sincerity and disinterestedness of a "certain person's" attachment before he let all his fond and passionate feelings go out towards her-[At this point the perspiration burst from every pore in the body of Tag-rag]— and no one could deplore the unexpected issue of his little experiment so much as Titmouse.

Tag-rag really, for a moment, scarcely knew where he was, who was with him, nor whether he stood on his head or his heels, so delightful and entirely unexpected was the issue of Mr Gammon's visit. As soon as his faculties had somewhat recovered themselves from their temporary obfuscation, almost breathless, he assured Gammon that no event in the whole course of his life had occasioned him such poignant regret as his treatment of Titmouse on the occasion in ques tion; that he had undoubtedly fol lowed unwittingly the example Titmouse, and drunk far more

of

han

his usual quantity of wine; beides